Overlooking Merthyr Tydfil from its own lakeside park, Cyfarthfa Castle is a grand Regency-Gothic mansion — a mock castle, never a fortress — built in 1824–25 for the ironmaster William Crawshay II, and positioned so he could look out over the ironworks that made his fortune.
Since 1910 it has been the town’s museum and art gallery: fine art, the industrial and social story of Merthyr, and a scattering of world curios including ancient Egyptian and Roman pieces. It’s a proper family museum rather than a grand national one, and all the more characterful for it.
The surrounding Cyfarthfa Park — a big, green estate with a lake, gardens, a playground and a miniature railway — is free and open to all, which makes this an easy half-day, and a good one to keep up your sleeve for a wet afternoon.
Worth knowing
- The Crawshays’ Cyfarthfa Ironworks was, for a time in the early 1800s, the largest ironworks in the world.
- The castle was built in 1824–25 for William Crawshay II — reputedly 72 rooms and 15 towers.
- The family sold it to the town in 1908, and it opened as a museum and art gallery in 1910.
- The collections range from Merthyr’s industrial history to fine art and even ancient Egyptian and Roman artefacts.
- It sits in around 160 acres of public parkland, with a lake, gardens and a miniature railway.